Oil prices extended gains in afternoon trading on Monday, with WTI crude climbing more than 2% to hit a 2-week high of $53.43 a barrel amid rising heating-oil demand and falling US crude inventories.
The US Northeast has been hit by a powerful winter snowstorm, providing a massive boost to heating demand in the residential and commercial sectors.
Supporting prices further, EIA data last week showed a 2.3 million-barrel drawdown in inventories, while investors anticipate another weekly decline.
On the supply side, OPEC+ seemed to be stick to its supply cuts amid persist concerns that delays to vaccine rollouts and fresh travel curbs could depress demand even further.
